PHOENIX — Former Governor Doug Ducey declared October Domestic Violence Awareness Month to raise awareness and identify opportunities to expand services and prevention efforts that support survivors and victims of domestic violence in Arizona communities. As a symbol of unity and hope, the State Capitol dome will be lit purple every night through the month of October as part of the 6th Annual Lighting Arizona Purple campaign. The campaign provides an opportunity to support victims, connect families and communities with essential resources, and encourage Arizonans to #EndDVinAZ.
View text of the proclamation below
***
WHEREAS, domestic violence is an issue affecting Arizonans in all communities, regardless of age, gender, economic status, race, religion, nationality, or educational background; and
WHEREAS, twenty-four people in the United States are victims of intimate partner violence every minute; and
WHEREAS, one in four women and one in ten men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, 30 percent of children exposed to intimate partner violence had their first exposure before the age of two, and an additional 26 percent had their first exposure between the ages of two and seven; and
WHEREAS, victims of domestic violence are more likely to experience long-term mental and physical health concerns including a higher risk of chronic disease, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety; and
WHEREAS, challenges related to the COVID-19 global pandemic, including stressors such as unemployment, reduced income, limited resources and social support, may increase risk factors for family violence; and
WHEREAS, Domestic Violence Awareness Month provides an important opportunity to enhance education, prevention and intervention efforts around domestic violence and support organizations and individuals who provide advocacy efforts, services, and assistance to victims.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Douglas A. Ducey, Governor of the State of Arizona, do hereby proclaim October 2020 as
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to
be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arizona
GOVERNOR
DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this ninth day of September
in the year Two Thousand and Twenty and of the Independence of the
United States of America the Two Hundred and Forty-Fifth.
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE